OBU Hangs On To Defeat Weevils, 65-63

Posted by susanharmon on December 10, 2012 · Comments Off on OBU Hangs On To Defeat Weevils, 65-63

Courtesy of
Brian Ramsey

MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball rallied back from a deficit of 14 points in the second half to within two points in the minute of a 65-63 loss to Ouachita Baptist at home on Saturday inside Steelman Fieldhouse.

Down seven with 1:34 remaining in regulation, the Boll Weevils (4-4, 1-3 Great American Conference) scored the game’s final five points, but a blocked layup with two seconds remaining sealed the two-point victory for the Tigers (5-3, 2-2 GAC).

After being outscored by 11 in the first half, the tides turned in the second half with UAM outscoring the Tigers by nine in the final 20 minutes.

UAM used an 11-3 scoring run midway through the second half to trim a 12-point deficit to just four points with 5:20 remaining in regulation. Just over 20 seconds later, junior Ramon Mejia nailed a three-pointer to put the Tigers up by just three points with just under five minutes remaining. OBU responded with a quick 5-0 run to get back on top by eight points. UAM again got to within four points at the 2:26 mark with a pair of made free throws from senior Kori Forge.

Those free throws were answered by the seventh three-pointer from OBU’s Austin Mitchell to put the Tigers up by seven with 1:34 left before UAM made its final surge.

In his postgame interview, UAM head coach Allen Sharpe attributed much of the loss to his team’s poor free-throw shooting. UAM made just 3-of-9 foul shots in the first half, but improved to 10-of-17 in the final period.

As a team, UAM shot 38 percent from the field (23-of-61) and 21 percent on three-pointers (4-of-19). OBU shot 50 percent from the field (24-of-48), 56 percent on three-pointers (9-of-16) and 57 percent on foul shots (8-of-14).

Forge led UAM with 20 points, marking his sixth game of the season to reach the 20-point plateau. Senior A.J. Calhoun and Dayton Mickens also reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points each. Mickens added 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

OBU’s Mitchell led all scorers with 23 points. Colt Fason added 14 and Nigel Ramsey had 10 points off the bench.

The Boll Weevils step out of GAC play next Saturday at home against Delta State. UAM defeated DSU 51-48 on Nov. 20 in Cleveland, Miss. Next Saturday’s tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Steelman Fieldhouse.